


let's have another toast to the girl almighty

by Hazloveshisboo



Series: We Know Where We Belong [24]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Fluff, Friendship, M/M, Non-Serum Steve Rogers/Winter Soldier Bucky Barnes | Shrinkyclinks, Pre-Serum Steve Rogers, Winter Soldier Bucky Barnes, i just really love bucky making friends and i wanted to write this, steve is only in it for one small part, this is mostly just pepper and bucky, this was my own self indulgence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-22
Updated: 2019-02-22
Packaged: 2019-11-04 00:12:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17887823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hazloveshisboo/pseuds/Hazloveshisboo
Summary: Bucky and Pepper get to know each other better and see the beginnings of a friendship.





	let's have another toast to the girl almighty

**Author's Note:**

> i am so fucking sorry i take so long to post these but school is very time consuming and unfortunately, that has to come first. so thank you all so fucking much for waiting so patiently for me to update this series because i do love it and i would love to give it more attention
> 
> Title from Girl Almighty by One Direction

James had been part of the Avengers for six months when he received his first call from Miss Pepper Potts. He was in Steve’s apartment while his boyfriend was out working on a piece when his phone unexpectedly rang. He stared at it in confusion, as he was only used to Steve calling and Steve wouldn’t be calling while he was working. He picked up his phone and stared at the screen, the name Pepper Potts displayed. He slid his thumb across the screen to answer the call and held it up to his ear. 

“Hello?” 

“James, it’s nice to speak with you again,” Pepper said. “Last time we met, you asked for my help in gaining legality and citizenship again and I just wanted to let you know that it’s all done. You’re officially alive in the eyes of the United States government and you have your birth certificate, a social security number, and a bank account with all your owed back-pay.” 

“Owed back-pay?” Bucky asked a bit confused.

“Well, while I was working on getting everything set up, I found out that if a soldier is declared MIA, if they’re ever found, they are owed the pay for however long they were gone. And considering you were never officially declared KIA, you were owed almost eighty years of back-pay,” Pepper explained. “And once I found that out, I was going to get it for you.” 

“Oh,” Bucky was a little stunned. He never expected any money from this, and he never expected someone like Pepper to take more of her time to get it for him. “Thank you.”

“It’s not a problem at all, James. I assume you want to come pick up the documents yourself?” she asked, and Bucky could hear shuffling over the speaker.

“Yeah, I would, please,” Bucky nodded. “I can be there in forty-five minutes.” 

“I’ll see you then, James,” Pepper said and hung up. Bucky was a bit surprised but he pulled his boots on and was out the door. As promised, he was walking into Stark Tower forty minutes later and after telling the receptionist he was there to see Miss Potts, he was given access to the elevator. He fidgeted a bit on the ride up and once he arrived at the top floor of offices, he walked down the hallway and knocked on the heavy wooden door that was labeled P. Potts. A moment later, her light voice filtered through, informing him the door was open. Bucky opened it and stepped inside, letting it fall shut behind him. “Hello, Miss Potts.”

“James, it’s good to see you again,” Pepper stood and walked around the desk to greet him, grabbing a manila envelope off the corner of her desk. “Here is everything you’ll need to be a real person again.” 

“Thank you, Miss Potts. I really do appreciate you doing all this for me. You didn’t have to,” Bucky said a bit shyly. 

“I really didn’t mind it James, at all. You are the reason the world’s a better place, and even if that wasn’t the case, you deserve to have a good life after everything you’ve gone through.” Bucky blushed a little and shook his head. 

“We’ll have to agree to disagree, ma’am, but thank you, nonetheless. I really do appreciate everything you’ve done for me,” Bucky said. “If you ever need anything from me, I’ll be happy to help however you need.” 

“Thank you, James, I’ll have to take you up on that sometime. But not today. The rest of my day is filled with a conference call with businessmen that think they know more than I do,” Miss Potts smiled warmly at him. “I’ll speak with you soon, James, have a good rest of your day.”

“You do the same, Miss Potts,” Bucky turned to leave her office but paused. “For the record, Miss Potts, those businessmen probably know fuck all compared to you.” 

***  
Bucky’s favor for Miss Potts was called in over a month later. The Avenger’s had just finished training and Bucky checked his phone to see a text from Miss Potts, asking to see him at two that same afternoon. He replied with a simple ‘Affirmative’ and finished changing before leaving the tower. He had time before he would need to meet with Miss Potts and he didn’t want Stark knowing he hadn’t left the tower. He grabbed a quick lunch and settled on top of the roof of a nearby building while he watched the people below him. New York was just as fascinating as it was in the ‘30’s, maybe even more, and Bucky liked to people watch. 

Once it was closer to two, Bucky made his way back to the tower and up to Miss Potts’s office, knocking on the door. When he entered, Miss Potts was seated behind her desk, staring at the screen of her computer, glancing his way after a moment. “James! How lovely to see you!” she stood but didn’t make any move to come close to him, which he greatly appreciated. “I assume you remember you said you owed me a favor? I’m cashing in.”

“Of course. What did you have in mind?” Bucky asked, tilting his head curiously. He wasn’t sure what he could offer Miss Potts that she could not get elsewhere. 

“Well, I have a business summit coming up, in Tokyo. I won’t bore you with the details but it is very important and very regulated. And while normally I would be fine just taking Happy and a few others, Happy is recognizable and good at his job for what it is here. But what I am looking for is something much more…in depth,” Miss Potts explained, watching Bucky closely.

“You want me to act as your bodyguard,” Bucky assumed, raising his eyebrows.

“Not my bodyguard exactly. While you would be there for my protection, it needs to look like you’re there for the summit,” Miss Potts said. “You would be an interested investor, or my assistant, something that would keep you close but not get people worried about your intentions.” 

“Hidden in plain sight protection detail, easy,” Bucky shrugged. “When would you need me?”

“The flight out leaves on Thursday morning, early. We would be in Japan for three days and leave Monday morning. Would that be alright?” Miss Potts looked apprehensive. 

“Of course, Miss Potts, I am there to ensure your safety,” Bucky nodded. “Is there anything else I should know right now?”

“No, I’ll brief you on the plane,” Miss Potts said, sounding relieved. “I’ll text you the flight details. See you Thursday?”

“Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed,” Bucky deadpanned.

***  
“You’ll be gone for five whole days,” Steve pouted after Bucky told him of his weekend plans. 

“Yes and you will be fine. Miss Potts seemed very…worried about being at this summit without adequate security and I am the best person to provide that for her. And after everything she has done for me, it would be rude of me to deny her request,” Bucky said and pulled Steve into his lap. “I’ll even take those selfies you like so much. So you won’t miss my pretty face.” 

“I do like to see your face,” Steve conceded and kissed Bucky. “Just promise you’ll be careful? Who knows what kind of crazy could be at this summit.” 

“I promise I will be careful,” Bucky nodded and rested his head against Steve’s.

“Good. Now, since you’ll be gone for five whole days, you better make up for the fact that I’m not going to have you in my bed,” Steve stood and began walking over to his bed. “Well? What are you waiting for?” Bucky launched himself off the couch and after Steve, reveling in the laughter that sounded out.

***  
As promised, Bucky was waiting on the tarmac of the airport runway when Miss Potts arrived. She thanked the driver and walked over to Bucky, looking no less powerful in her leggings and top instead of her suit. 

“Are you ready to go?” she asked, watching as Happy loaded her bags onto the airplane. Bucky raised his duffle and nodded once. 

“Steve was not happy when I told him I would be gone for so long,” Bucky said. He trusted Miss Potts in the same way he trusted Steve and he knew that people who were – friends, they shared these kinds of things with each other. 

“No? Is this the first time you’ll have been away from him since you got together?” Miss Potts asked, walking with him to the airplane once they were given the clear. 

“No, I’ve been away on Avengers missions but never this long,” Bucky explained, waiting for Miss Potts to choose her seat before taking the one across from her. “How is Stark doing?” 

“I don’t think he’s realized I left yet,” Miss Potts smiled. “He was busy working on something last night when I went to bed.” Bucky nodded and looked out the window as the plan began rolling down the tarmac. “So, time for the briefing?” 

***  
The next few days were taxing for Bucky – he was constantly surrounded by countless people and while he was used to it in New York, this was an unfamiliar environment and he was acting as security. During the day while they were constantly moving, Bucky was on edge and following close to Miss Potts the entire time. After they finished for the day it was easier, surrounded by less people as they hadn’t left their hotel otherwise. They were currently at one of the restaurants inside the hotel eating dinner together, Bucky inspecting his appetizer plate curiously. 

“Have you ever had Japanese food before?” Miss Potts asked him, smiling softly.

“Not really. Steve took me to a sushi place once and it was alright but I’m not sure about the authenticity of the place,” Bucky explained, finally using the chopsticks to pick one of the pieces of fish up. 

“I’m a fan, but it can be a bit intimidating for someone who doesn’t eat a lot of foreign food, especially when you grew up with depression-era food,” Miss Potts said, easily eating her own. Bucky snorted. “Have you been trying different foods?”

“Yeah, Steve started that mission before we got together. I told him that I ate pretty poorly growing up and never really had any food from anywhere else and he immediately started introducing all different kinds of food to me,” Bucky said, finally shoving the fish into his mouth, humming a bit. “Not as bad as I thought.” Miss Potts laughed, covering her mouth with her hand. 

“Do you have a favorite?” She asked, taking a sip of her water.

“I really like Indian. And Thai,” Bucky said thoughtfully.

“So you like spicy foods?” Miss Potts noticed. 

“Huh. I guess I do,” Bucky shrugged. “Never even realized before. Maybe it’s ‘cause I can withstand more? Cause of the serum.” 

“It’s a possibility,” Miss Potts said, setting her fork down as she finished her appetizer. “Have you tested the limits of the serum?” 

“Not purposefully,” Bucky shook his head. “But overtime I just learned what I could and couldn’t do. I can lift a couple thousand pounds, I heal quick, broken bones only take a couple days. Higher mental functioning, that kind of thing.” 

“It’s all very interesting. Not your past o anything like that, but what science can do to the human body. Even modern medicine has come a long way from what you remember.” 

“You could say that. Half the kids my age didn’t make it to their twenties,” Bucky said. “Lots of old folks died early too. I’m pretty happy about the way the future has turned out. Can actually marry Stevie if I wanted now and I wouldn’t have been able to even look at a guy the wrong way before.” 

“There are still parts of the world where you couldn’t,” Miss Potts pointed out. Bucky sighed. 

“Yeah, I’ve been reading up on queer rights and stuff, history and what not. Steve took me to that bar in Greenwich where the uh…riots took place.” 

“Well, I’m glad that things have worked out for the better even if the getting here wasn’t so great,” Miss Potts said softly, smiling at him. Bucky nodded and grinned back. 

“Yeah, I am too.”

**Author's Note:**

> [my tumblr](http://hazloveshisboo.tumblr.com/)
> 
> as always, if you have any requests just leave it in a comment or message me on tumblr!


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